


Defrosted Hordak AU

by Dinoskull



Series: Defrosted Hordak AU [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Original Character Death(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-09-27 23:48:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 4,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20416328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dinoskull/pseuds/Dinoskull
Summary: Various ficlets from an AU of MineThe portal bringing Hordak to Etheria brings him to the the Kingdom of Snows, separate from the rest of the Horde. He is found by Frosta’s people frozen in ice, thawed out by Entrapta, and assists the Rebellion for his own purposes attempting to play into their prejudices by portraying himself as an unjustly overthrown leaderSee previous work in series if want to see Hordak's first meeting the Rebellion.





	1. Immortality and Long term plans

Hordak stood next to the princess of Bright Moon, looking out onto the waves as Sea-Hawk and Bow frolicked and sang while the escort of guards and volunteers looked bemused.

Hordak suddenly had an interjection, perhaps a subconscious attempt to distract himself from his worries.

“I miss when I could have annoyances like this ‘Sea Hawk’ killed.”

Glimmer looked at him aghast.

“You had people killed for being annoying?!”

Hordak didn’t skip a beat in his answer

“No, but the knowledge that I could being in the back of my mind was comforting.”

He looked at Glimmer with skepticism.

“Does your mother not have total control over who lives and dies in her domain?”

The young princess sputtered.

“No! I mean- she wouldn’t!" 

As she tried to collect thoughts, she froze as at his gaze.

For the first time since meeting Hordak, she felt more than irritation or rightful distrust, but a deep discomfort.

But that was silly, right? She could take him in a fight easily. He was frail from being in ice so long ( a rude observation she guiltily chided herself for.). She and her companions outnumbered him.

What was there to fear?

"I guess I never really thought about it.” she admitted.

A contemptful chide came out automatically

“Well it is something you will have to think about in preparation as her successor.”

Hordak mentally kicked himself immediately after saying that. Why had he just given an almost certain future enemy advice on how to rule?

Oddly, the princess did not get angry, but laughed.

“That’s never going to happen. My mom is this ageless, immortal queen! The throne is something I’ll never have to deal with.”

Hordak paused at that. 

Why did the Queen have this child.if she was not needed? Did she not realize how uncontrollable the offspring had the potential to be, that she was risking a potential coup in the future?

It wasn’t for the reason that Horde Prime created him and his brethren. Because the Queen was reluctant to let her out in battle.

…Or perhaps she put the need to have someone take over in the case of anything happening to her over her own power. That made the most sense. 

But then why let her go out into battle at all?

Was there was something he was missing?

Hordak had to admit reproductive biology/strategies hadn’t been something he had really committed to memory. 

“Hey…Hello?” Glimmer was on top of a crate waving her hand in front of him.

“I was thinking” the former general responded. "Are you ageless as well?“

Glimmer snorted as she sat down. "Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Indeed, unless an unforeseen opportunity arose, it was looking like he might just have to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Etherian Horde's expansion is slower without Hordak as leader of the Horde to tinker with /repair technology at its formation, but its in some ways harder to uproot and take back from. So Angella is both more overprotective, and willing and able to spend more resources on Glimmer as Rebellion Forces are less spread out.  
So Glimmer gets escorts to Salineas.  
I wonder if I wrote Glimmer out of character here, or if Hordaks’s question cut her off guard enough for her to forget his worrying joke.  
Or she understands how he feels about Sea Hawk and doesn’t want to press the issue…


	2. Why Am I Not Furious?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hordak doesn't have a betrayal plot finalized yet, but a card up his sleeve gets discovered. The outcome is different than he feared.

Hordak was not the self-reflective sort, but he was now trapped in a confused mental loop as he walked down the halls of Brightmoon Castle. Why was he not upset at his attempt at a long term tool for use against his allies of circumstance being foiled?

Bow and Entrapta had found the backdoor he had placed in the Horde robots he reprogrammed, and merely chided him for neglecting to document the "safety feature" and advised him to get more rest.  
Obviously they were fools for trusting him but that was irrelevant.

He could somewhat understand why he wasn't completely frustrated with Bow: the fact the boy had thwarted him was in a way a sign he had succeeded as a mentor. And the boy clearly twisted events for the best possible interpretation.

But why was he not angry at Entrapta?  
Her saying he made a mistake should have been insulting, she should know him better than that.  
Her happy smile should have sent him into a rage; it instead calmed him and possibly kept him from angrily shouting the truth in an ill-advised defense of his ego.

What was wrong with him?

He supposed it was because his two colleagues were correct in that he had made a mistake, even if they were unaware what the mistake was.  
The reason he wasn't angry towards them, was because he had only himself to blame

His steps slowed as he realized the absurdity of the situation: he was angry about not being upset.

He sighed. Perhaps it was time for more of that "art therapy", as Bow and the deposed Castaspella called it.

He would work with felt this time; it was pleasingly surgical.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bow, and the Rebellion almost certainly knows what's going on with Hordak, but Hordak is useful, and until Hordak makes an explicit betrayal the Rebellion is going to tolerate and make use of him as long as they feel in control.
> 
> Hordak doesn't realize Bow knows, because the one type of deception Bow is good at is putting on a pleasant facade due to his situation with his fathers.
> 
> Entrapta may need to have the dynamic with Hordak and the Rebellion explained once it comes up in a meeting he's not invited to, possibly by Frosta who I suspect comes from the most "cloak and dagger" of the kingdoms.
> 
> Which could be very fun I'm pretty sure Entrapta would be a terrible liar.
> 
> Castapella is living in Bright Moon. Mystacor is in the hands of the Horde, ruled by Mortella, her ursurper in the 80s cartoon.


	3. Pep Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hordak finally let slip his decaying condition which had been somewhat halted by his time in ice compared to the show. But as his condition worsens and they aren't closer to seizing the Fright Zone and the technology the ship hopefully holds for him to clone a new body, he lashes out then holes himself away.  
Entrapta comes in

Entrapta was not leaving. He had no ability to tell her to do so, as the Bright Moon lab was as much hers as it was his.

He tried to ignore her and just sat in his chair. 

"You know, I always thought the reason no one ever came to visit me in Dryll was because there's something wrong with me."

Hordak could not help but interject from his seat at that.

"Compared to others here, there is nothing wrong with you. You are are at least sensible within your field of knowledge!" 

In her chosen field of knowledge. Brief flashes of his past evaluations flew through is head. The princess of Brightmoon tried to be a diplomat and failed miserably in Salineas due to a lack of preparation. The tinkerer, Bow, deluded himself into trying to be a warrior when he lacked the killing instinct.

Entrapta shook her head.

"I know there's nothing wrong with me ** _now_ **, but my methods were wrong. It wasn't what I was doing, but what I wasn't doing!"

Hordak was becoming curious despite himself. What she was saying sounded like nonsense...but Entrapta wasn't the type of person to speak nonsense.

"When Frosta called me to the Kingdom of Snows because she found a man with machine parts in ice, I had a reason to leave Dryll. While there while I made notes on your recovery, I talked to historians and Frosta about architecture, wildlife, insulation. And the medical staff-"

Entrapta stopped, reevaluating what she was saying. And lifted a finger.

"Ok actually the doctors and nurses didn't like me, said I kept getting underfoot and got angry when I snuck into your room."

Waving it off, she continued.

"Well my point is, it was very informative! "

Entrapta pulled out her digital pad and started rifling through books on the shelves as she continued talking. She seemed to organizing them for later use. 

Her ability to multitask was always impressive.

"But it really picked up when you contacted me again to ask for help improving Bright Moon's workshop. Now I have all sorts of friends!

And now I'm learning all kinds of things; about magic and runestones that's common knowledge to others but not to me! And I have knowledge that I think is obvious, but its not to them!”

Her tone of voice grew more excited.

"There's a lot to learn from other people, a lot we can gain from each other. 

All we have to do-"

-is reach out for it!" she declared triumphantly.

After that peak though, her hair and hands lowered and she looked more serious.

Her voice turned softer.

"But if you don't go out and even try looking...if you give up after failure... you'll never know what's out there."

Something stirred in Hordak.

The way she was phrasing seeking assistance: she made it not feel shameful or begging, but no different from the glory of exploration or conquest.

A tendril of hair extended in invitation towards him

"I guess I 'm asking you.. Do you want to go look for a solution not just with me... but with everyone?"

Horde indoctrination crashed like waves in Hordak's mind, but something; what it was he didn't know; remained standing despite it all. Hope and resignation intermingled, somehow spawning some spark of resolve.

He did not take the offered appendage, but he did rise from his seat.

"I suppose I have nothing left to lose,” he relented.

For some reason the resulting smile on Entrapta's face seemed to turn that spark into a fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Entrapta and Hordak are a slower burn than in S3, as she technically is on the side of the people he is theoretically plotting to betray (once he actually has the time to and isn't focused on survival).
> 
> And Hordak really does have resources at this point he can pull on to try and help him with his degradation. Plumeria's vast array of medical plants, and some potential magical resources. But he’s been dismissing them all as backwards and nothing to contribute, just like in canon.
> 
> The problem with knowledge in Etheria is the specializations interacting. Everyone keeps their knowledge within little spheres not talking to other disciplines.
> 
> I didn’t plan on this, but I think Entrapta’s character arc is gonna be breaking through that and starting dialogues between the different scholarly groups of Etheria.


	4. Birthday [noncanon silliness]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I decided against using this idea in the rest of the AU, but it was still too fun

It had been a productive meeting for the rebellion.

"I believe that covers everything. Are there any other matters anyone would like to discuss before we adjourn?" questioned the Queen

Hordak stood up, awaiting to be given permission to speak.

The idea of raising his hand like Glimmer often did was beneath his pride.

"Yes, Hordak?"

The grumpy tinkerer wasted no time. 

"I have no urgent developments to report, but response to Bow's _ repeated _pestering about when my birthday is or how many candles I should have...

Using Entrapta's atomic clock as a reference point,

Subtracting the time I spent in ice as from what I am aware the purpose is to celebrate developmental milestones,

I have calculated an approximate age for myself in alignment with the Etherian calendar."

Mermista showed disinterest, but the other members of the rebellion seemed at least somewhat curious,.

"I will be 21 next week from this day." Hordak finished.

Hordak had hoped for this to put an end to this nonsense.

Instead the princesses erupted into a bombardment of confusion and questions.

Glancing at the queen, hoping she would intervene, he saw a smile on her lips appear for a moment before returning to her usual expression. Apparently the behavior of her younger comrades was amusing on some level.

It was clear he was going to need to try to understand these fools better, so he could navigate past their annoying behavior

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He came out of pod fully grown, and has been frozen in ice when in canon he would be active. That's gonna make things weird.


	5. The Turning Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hordak finds strength from his baffling allies...and a very risky design flaw in his new cybernetics.

Hordak looked at the Horde symbol on the flag he had taken as a trophy.

"You created me...and the others, so we would attempt to match your accomplishments, but you deliberately sabotaged our potential."

He had gotten used to talking to non-sapient objects and items lately. He blamed Bow and Entrapta's influence. But here he was imagining the symbol was Horde Prime himself.

"...You felt threatened, didnt you?"

He recalled the common fears of creation replacing creators in the books Entrapta's servants had provided him when he asked for reading material. Bow and Princess Glimmer had wanted to leave after the incident with the rage virus, but he had desired rest.

It was not the first time he had slept in what had been previously a battlefield.

"You made an army in your image, to be your match in intelligence and ruthlessness; but knew the risk of any one of them replacing you; so you made sure they feared you before they even first opened our eyes!" His voice was raspy and frantic.

He thought back to Entrapta's analysis of the tissue samples.

"You had the ability to fix what was wrong with me, a problem caused by your own facilities. And you threw me aside.

Despite my accomplishments, I was as replaceable as any other to you."

The boy, Bow, had turned his back on everything his caretakers worked for him to be.

Glimmer rebelled against her mother's pathetic caution constantly.

If such fools could find strength, so could Hordak.

"I've been looking at this from the wrong perspective-" he rose from his seat.

"This planet is not a prison. It is a refuge."

"Nearly all my past thoughts and goals had pleasing you at the back of them, but now- "  
He gritted his blood-red teeth.

"-I will not rest until every trace of you is surgically removed from this world!  
And then for once, I shall decide what I want to-"

His armor crackled with energy out of control. The stunmace parts Entrapta had installed were malfunctioning from the feedback of his nervous system; he was outside the emotional range it had been tested with. The flag in his hands caught fire.

He engaged the manual override, on one. The other still shot out sparks. He threw the flag in the waterfall, but it was no longer the problem.

Why was everything in this room so flammable?

Many things were on fire and he was feeling too physically weak to fight it himself (why must his energy be so inconsistent these days!). He needed to escape.

He deactivated the electricity of the other arm. He steadied himself on furniture.

He could do this, he kept his eyes locked on the door. The smoke was no bother to him, he only had to fear the flames.

He was Hordak. If there was one thing his broth-, no his former master had done that was commendable it was to make him hard to kill.

He made it into the hall just as people (and Entrapta's robots) started to arrive.

He'd have to install a better fire alarm as his next project.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized Entrapta is probably gonna feel awful as Glimmer and Angella are going to tear into her once they conclude the fire was her fault. I might write Hordak coming to her defense if I feel inspired.


	6. The Bad Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Bad End

“Uncle Hordak, why are you doing this?”“

Glimmer’s grandchild cried before him, clutched in claws of robot minions as the festival burned around them.

His words were cold and to the point.

"My past affection for your grandmother has no bearings on my feelings for you.”

He had been careful to keep himself distant from the descendants of his allies, to make this easier.

It had been…difficult. He had even had to break off his relationship with Entrapta, as she had adored being a beloved auntie.

He had broken her heart.

But it was necessary. And she moved on. Because she was strong.

“Hordak!” came a scream from above.

Hordak looked to see the Queen of Bright Moon flying to save her descendant. Hordak placed himself between her and his hostage.

“After all these years, after all your help…we trusted you! I thought you loved Glimmer as if she were your own child!” She lashed out with a blast of light.

His personal force-field absorbed the blow. A gift from Entrapta now being put to good use.

The voice amplifier in his armor made his response loud and clear.

“I do not know what it means to love an offspring, but I was fond of your daughter. Which is why I waited for her to die of natural causes before pursuing this.”

His voice went from matter-of-fact to commanding.

“Now surrender yourself, and let your kingdom become a protectorate of my empire, or lose your family line.”

This was right.

This is what he was.

What he was made to be.

That is what he told himself.

Meanwhile in the Whispering Woods, stood a sword still waiting for a champion to one day arrive on Etheria and wield it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hordak's out to start his own empire in this ending. Not the Horde, but completely his own.  
He waited a few generations so he can feel like he isn't betraying his old allies.  
To someone with a family line of one generation, that makes sense to him.  
Yeah, multiple endings, like a videogame.


	7. Hospital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hordak's thoughts after being awake for a while in the hospital of the Kingdom of Snows.

In another time, in another life Hordak would have looked upon these primitives with hatred and resentment.

He would have gazed upon a wrecked ship and found within it... hope.

He would see the planet as a prison, and all life on it an obstacle between him and his freedom, his redemption

Here though, these people were mostly irrelevant to his thoughts except for one fact: he was burdening them.

And that proved he was worse than a failure now.

It was not guilt but wounded pride that tore at him.

He... 

was a leech.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hordak is not in a good mental state early on in the Kingdom of Snows after being thawed out.
> 
> I imagine its going to be hard to get him to eat.


	8. Ashes to Ashes, Rocks to Rocks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hordak with the help of the Rebellion, kills his old superior officer who oversaw him on the frontlines after his demotion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Warning: horrible death of an inorganic life form**

Glimmer held the first soft thing she could grab close to her chest as she sat by the window.

It had been easier when Hordak was untrustworthy yet oddly likable ally. When they expected this proclaimed "true leader of the Horde" to try and turn on then someday and need to be locked away...or killed.

They had everything under control. Bow and Entrapta kept a lookout for treachery in any of his machines. Even Perfuma could physically overpower him if needed.

After a while, she thinks she and the others started believing for a short time he couldn't have been former Horde royalty (or its closest equivalent, as he stated their cultures were quite different and it was only an analogy) or a warlord. He was too nonthreatening. Too unaccustomed to luxury. Perhaps he was a delusional Horde engineer who suffered brain damage from being frozen in ice?

It was only now that they could trust him to be nothing but adamant in the destruction of the Horde, that she ever truly feared him and realized how terrifying Hordak must have been prior to his entombment in ice.

The seemingly beaten-down grumpy tinkerer, who had become just another part of Brightmoon, was now a trustworthy ally and had never been scarier.

She remember what happened in the mine a few days before.

She remembers blinding Callix so he could be knocked down Frosta's ice slide into the funnel.

She remembers his uncomprehending screams as one of Hordak's robots pulled the switch, causing the machinery to surge to life and treat their foe as just another piece of ore to process.

Then the booming laugh of Hordak which somehow rose above the cacophony of metal and stone, as his former superior officer perished confused and frightened.

Callix had always been terrifying in battle. A man made of living stone who had come from a faraway world with the rest of the Horde. Nothing like him had ever been seen on Etheria. Now his remains were mixed into a bunch of rocks that poured out of the machine

Entrapta sealed off the cave to that room from the rest of the mines with explosives. She wanted to keep the Horde from recovering the remains, hoping that since Callix was inorganic she could come back later and pick out his pieces to examine once the mines were claimed by the Rebellion.

She didn't seem to care they had just killed someone in the most gruesome way Glimmer could ever imagine.

The fact he was made of rock rather than soft flesh seemed to make it worse somehow, like they had robbed him of personhood in death. 

No different than if they had put an Etherian through a meat grinder.

Frosta she suspected was also shaken, but was hiding it better. Laughing it up as Hordak stood by proudly; eagerly telling the story to others of the Rebellion, making silly sound effects in the retelling. She'd never seen the reagent of The Kingdom of Snows act like such a child.

It had just taken a man's horrible, horrible death to bring it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hordak turns completely "good". Manages to be terrifying and accidentally traumatize those close to him. News at 11.  
Poor Callix. But this is how I’ve decided you go out buddy. At least you aren’t killed for bringing Hordak bad news like in your original appearance in the He-Man 2002 reboot
> 
> Delayed posting this, as I wanted to place his encounter with Cy-Chop first. But I'm having trouble with the flow for that one.


	9. A Rundown On The Etherian Horde

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not a story this time, but worldbuilding on who's who in the Horde that's formed in the absence of Hordak all these decades.

So without Hordak a completely different power structure would occur in the Horde. Some I think I could imply he might have killed in the original timeline in the show as he seized power after coming to Etheria, or the random portal, already different in its fluctuations than canon and dropping Hordak in the Kingdom of Snow, bringing in additional people from the battlefield Hordak was on.

**Callix**

In the 2002 cartoon, he was a Hordesman who was killed by Hordak for bringing him bad news. 

Here I’m thinking he would have been Hordak’s superior prior to the portal. As a sort of meta-joke.

A living rock person, he would be one of the strangest things Etheria has ever seen in a long time and suitably formidable. Would be present in a lot Rebellion propaganda* as the face of the Horde itself. Callix in actuality considers himself only one part of the Horde but I’m unsure what his job title should be.

*I mean that by the original neutral definition.

Professor Tempus

While possibly non-native in old cartoon since has design cues resembling others from Hordak’s planet in the old show (Hordak was implied to be kinda weird looking by even his homeworld’s standard), here he would be Etherian. Has taken over what would be Hordak’s makeshift sanctum in canon..

A brilliant chemist and biologist who has been working on learning how to use Horde cloning equipment.

Trivia: Some suspect he was created to give the animators a break from having to deal with Modulok’s design, with a simpler to draw alternate scientist

Thinking of doing a gender swap of this character Like they did with Light Hope.. while of course keeping the baldness and bushy eyebrows.

Vultak

**** <strike></strike>

Warbeast tamer. A man enhanced by Shadow Weaver’s and Tempus’ experiments granting him flight and the ability to temporarily turn into a form similar to Shadow Weaver’s shadow spies.

** General Sunder **

** **

Nicest guy in the Horde. A badass normal. Ruthless at crushing resistance, but goes ape at anyone under his command mistreating those who are cooperating.

**Ore Captain Sludgeman**

Has taken over the job of overseeing the most important mining operations. Not a patriot of the Old Horde and very happy to see Hordak humbled. (Since he was willing to stand up to Hordak in old cartoon seemed right)

Which ironically makes him a possible ally and inside-man if the portal plot starts happening.

Hordak makes it a priority to shut him up in battle as soon as possible so none of Sludgman’s trashtalk can reveal anything that could compromise Hordak’s position in the rebellion.

**Admiral Scurvy**

An Etherian pirate recruited for the Horde. 

Hates Sea Hawk.

_ So much. _

Still unsure if Adora is in this AU without Hordak’s experiments. If I decide Catra survives in this a.u without Adora to look out for her (or prevent her from trying to escape and dying in the surrounding wasteland), it will partly be because of him. Still he is away at sea a lot so that’s only one protector...

Everyone thinks it's silly he kept his “pirate name” even after joining the Horde, but too afraid to say anything

Unlike the old show, he lacks a mechanical eye, instead having a magic Kiss-style tatoo that lets him shoot an eye beam from it. This is because his original design was based off of Keith Richards, and I thought "hey? Why not keep the slight music reference thing while updating the character?" and because the Horde is a bit more magic based in this timeline

**Megator**

A giant millennia old soldier-of-fortune who’s a one-man wrecking crew. Is with the Horde for ideological reasons: they’re mean and reward him for being mean. Was perhaps even fighting the Horde as a mercenary when he was drawn into the portal. Is terrifying and near unkillable.

Very proud of his hair. (original figure had brushable hair)

**Cy-Chop**

A bounty hunter and thief that long plagued the Horde civilization, his life was saved by an unethical scientist who he worked for for a few decades. (actual toy bio).

He was hired to fight against the Horde prior to the portal, and now works for the Horde on Etheria. Life truly works out ins strange ways sometimes.

Still getting a read on his personality, but he was apparently designed to be the MOTU take on old Japanese toy aesthetics like Microman. Might be able to work with that?

Limited gravity manipulation abilities uses for cool stunts.

He will not be keeping the furry underoos; it would be unfair as Hordak is not allowed to have them on display in the remake but for Cy-Chop to do so.

As a suave, charming cyborg with scissors for hands, he is the most dangerous person Entrapta could ever run into.

**Huntara**

** **

Considering her not leaving the Horde this timeline, or being part of Cy-Chop’s crew prior to growing disillusioned. 

**Tung Lashor**

Recruited by Callix after cutting off his tail. Callix took the inhospitable nature of the Crimson Wastes as a challenge and did some recon there.

**Shadow Weaver**

You didn’t think she’d be here?

Still trying to figure out how she’d fit in though. While I imagine she’s a busybody nosing into other Horde Council Member’s affairs, I’m thinking she’s more focused on research than ruling, feeling more appreciated by her peers than in the main timeline. 

## Mortella

Supposed puppet leader of Mystacor (yeah, that’s one thing that is darker: the Horde has Mystacor) but pretty independent. Really only allied with the Horde due to Shadow Weaver being her <strike> girlfriend </strike> valued colleague. 


	10. Grieving in Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadow Weaver mourns the loss of her lover.

“_Your scars… you are quite the ambitious person aren’t you?_”, the woman stated with admiration.

“_No need to hide them here. We cover up from others so as to not remind our foes of our mortality , but we should take pride in what we have survived_.”

Those had been the words Mortella had spoken to her that had started everything.

Mortella had always had pride in her independence.  
Despite Shadow Weaver making the then-young woman an ally of the Horde, she never got her to formally join.

The others were worried at her gall, but Shadow Weaver was able to soothe their fears.

And now her vice got her killed.

Why didn't she call for her aid to deal with the intruders?! For protection?!

Foolish woman! Foolish pride!

She would have sent her shadow servants immediately and sniffed out the Rebellion scum! Or Vultak with some warbeasts!

Now the only person who ever understood her...was gone

Mortella was like the fire she revered; something that could be controlled. Her ego could be stroked, but always dangerous.

Mortella was fuel, and Shadow Weaver and her Black Garnet were lightning.

Mortella provided the fuel, Shadow weaver the spark.

Together they had created a source of power, The Emerald Flame, almost as powerful as a runestone!

And with that power the Horde was able to greatly expand their operations.

But now she was gone.

Mystacor was likely soon to fall into Rebellion hands.

The vast energies of the magical furnace Mortella had constructed were extinguished. The magical constructs that directly took power from it crumbled.

Uprisings were starting to crop up, but that was not Shadow Weaver's main concern.

The Rebellion had killed her.  
More specifically, a new technologist in their ranks had controlled a robot to strike her from behind.

Hordak.

A former underling of Callix, and it appeared, a defector.  
Callix said he was worthless, a failure sent to die in battle to redeem himself. His only use was intel in his brain when he was higher ranked which could be useful to the Horde forces on Etheria.

Callix was now clearly laid out as the fool he was.  
That "failure" had killed the woman she loved!

With the aid of the rest of the almost equally outraged council, they dragged out more information on who this "Hordak" was.

Callix was lower in esteem now. But she could not take any joy in this powerplay.

She had revenge to plan.

But what could she even take from a vicious outcast of the Horde, unfairly cast out?

A former Hordesman likely barely trusted by his allies, who's body was frail from being frozen in ice.

But then her shadow spies saw something peculiar as they lurked in the mutated forest below Mystacor in the days after.  
A princess had arrived to greet Hordak; a fellow technologist.

They happily discussed the design of the machine that killed Mortella.

The vile murderers.They felt no guilt for what they had done.

Still,Shadow Weaver smiled under her mask. So Hordak had a collaborator? Someone almost equally as guilty?

The sorceress looked at the fools: they wore their emotions on their sleeves.

She would not merely deprive Hordak of this princess.

She would take them away from each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm now considering having Shadow Weaver not be the one who orders Cryptic Castle destroyed , but actually saves Entrapta from it somehow because she doesn't want her poetic revenge spoiled.
> 
> Mortella was a one-shot villain in the original show, and Castaspella's nemesis.
> 
> Thanks to all who have been enjoying this. Is there any character from the Ch 9 list you would want me to try examining in another drabble?


	11. Hordak: Matchmaker?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hordak works on a plan to get Perfuma to stop dropping by the lab so often.
> 
> He is sick of cleaning up flower crowns for the robots.

Hordak looked at the T-Chart and diagrams he had drawn on the blackboard.

"Bow and Perfuma are already agreeable towards each other. If Perfuma were to become romantically involved with him, she might be underfoot less.  
The drawback is that Bow is incredibly useful both to me and the Rebellion, and this could have negative impacts on productivity.  
And there is the possibility that she might actually become more of a nuisance, dropping by more frequently for the excuse to see him."

"What do you think?" Hordak turned towards his audience next to him.

Telecommunications Unit 01A, aka "Perchy" , sitting on the nearby table, responded by tilting its ovoid central body.

"I just realized what I am talking to" Hordak sighed. "I have clearly been working with Entrapta far too long."

After a moment, the little robot suddenly took off towards Entrapta's workstation. It crawled up to her bookshelf and started knocking journals to the floor.

"Stop, Cease this!" Hordak commanded. 

The robot obeyed.

Sighing, Hordak bent to pick up the mess when is eyes gazed on an unusual title.

"Social dynamics of the Princess Alliance"?

He opened it. It was well organized and easy to navigate, despite all the fold-outs scrawled full of notes. 

He turned to Perfuma's section.

"Possible unresolved romantic tension between Perfuma and Mermista" he read.

"But Mermista seems pair bonded to Sea Hawk. Aren't Etherian's monogamous?"

Perchy had climbed up onto a shelf. Hordak instinctively reached out an arm to let the bot crawl up to his shoulder while he continued reading.

Hordak turned to Mermista's page. His eyes lingered on the information concerning her dynamics with Seahawk and Perfuma.

"So if I were to remove Sea Hawk from the equation…"

Perchy seemed to make a questioning trill at that.

"Outright killing is unfeasible. I have no experience in assasination in a non-military context. Friendly fire would be suspicious given my known annoyance with him."

"Also- "  
he began, closing the book before putting it back.  
"-I somehow suspect any accident I tried to engineer for him he would emerge from without a scratch."

But Sea Hawk and Princess Mermista had a contentious relationship, that has only recently reemerged from a "break", as his memory of Salineas told him and these notes by Entrapta seemed to confirm.

It should be easy to exacerbate these issues, and send the ocean princess into the grasp of Perfuma.

"It appears your glitches have helped me little one; you may continue to exist another day." Hordak addressed the unit on his shoulder.

The robot just gave a slight trill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hordak only does shipping for evil purposes.  
Little does he know: as a protagonist, matchmaking schemes are not allowed to work.  
...Also Mermista could easily date both of them.  
Hordak is working from incomplete information here, assuming all relationships are like Angella and Michah, or Lance and George.
> 
> I imagine part of the reason he comes up with this plan is he’s still…kinda beaten down from the demotion and didn’t have the dramatic moment where he gazed upon the crashed ship he did in canon.
> 
> So he subconciously often thinks of himself as a (ambitious) subordinate in many scenarios rather than an ally. Bow’s unclear rank in the Rebellion , as he’s primarily there as Glimmer’s friend, would further baffle him. 
> 
> It thus doesn’t occur to him to just ask Perfuma to stop the behavior that's annoying him.
> 
> Defrosted Hordak AU character Bio: Perchy  
Instead of Imp, Hordak has a bunch small, ovoid robots that act as eyes and ears in the field that he commands from a safe location (though they are kept isolated to only the lab in Brightmoon castle.)  
They look like jellybeans with legs.  
The most beloved of them is named "Perchy" by Bow because its often perched on people's shoulders.  
Thanks to upgrades by Entrapta, it starts showing emergent behavior:  
Mainly attacking Bow like a facehugger whenever Bow makes the mistake of calling Perchy cute.  
Bow never learns.  
Hordak procrastinates on fixing that temperament problem because while he is grudgingly fond of Bow, seeing him flail against Unit 01A brings him great amusement.  
It's only when Glimmer brings up the possibility of this possibly leading to a concussion one day he works with Entrapta on fixing it.  
And by "fixing" I mean "upgrade intelligence so it learns to be passive aggressive instead"
> 
> Hordak denies its sapience as long as possible,( for reasons even I don't quite understand and I'm writing him.)


End file.
